New York, New York
by MilesTailsPrower-007
Summary: While out for a nightly game with his brothers, Donatello makes something of a peculiar discovery... [TMNT and Sonic the Hedgehog crossover, but just a little.] Contains no pairings or OCs. Reviews are appreciated very much! :D
1. Enter New York

_**Author's Note: **Although this is a TMNT story, it's a bit of a cross-over with Sonic the Hedgehog. Mostly TMNT, though. I love both series, and I thought it would be neat to try to make a cross-over of the two. Sonic fans are welcome to scream and run at this point. _

_:p_

_Reviews are appreciated so much. Thank you for reading!  
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A brisk night hung over New York City, and the paved streets lay fairly quiet. Afew people wandered around here and there, but the city was more peaceful than usual. Given it still had as much traffic as nighttime usually had, it was realitively quiet. Or at least, it was quiet by New York standards. Yet all those men in suits, and gang members wandering the dark alley ways, and teenagers hanging out in groups on the street corners... None of them thought to look up at the silver moon, or at the clear sky, or at the very least, up to the roofs of the buildings. If they had, they would have spotted the foursome of brothers laughing and playing, leaping from roof top to roof top.

"Step it up, guys!" Leo laughed, looking back over his shoulder as he ran. "If you keep going that slow, you won't make it home until Tuesday!"

"Cram it, Leo," Raph panted, pushing himself to run harder, trying to keep up. Just behind him, Don and Mikey slowed to a jog.

"I'm getting tired of this game," Mikey declared. "Too much running. Let's play Ninja Stealth."

"I agree with Mikey," Don admitted. "Let's save the running for later. Master Splinter said we could be out as late as we liked, provided that we would be ready to train when he gets up. So I'm all for Ninja Stealth."

"Whatever. It could give me a good chance to kick big mouth Leo's shell." Raph smirked, slowing down, too. "Yo Leo! We're switching over to Ninja Stealth. Wanna play?"

"Ah, why not?" Leonardo smiled, and promptly jogged back. "So who's it?"

"Rock Paper Scissors," Michelangelo suggested easily. "Fairest way, if you ask me! Besides, when we do Spin the Sai, Raph cheats."

"I do not!"

"Sure you do!"

"Guys, cut it out," Don interjected calmly. "Rock Paper Scissors it is. Leo, you go against Raph, and I'll go against Mikey. Winners have to face off, and whoever loses is 'it'. Got it?"

The other three nodded.

Raph beat Leo's scissors with a rock, and Don beat Mikey's rock with paper. After insisting on a replay because "paper doesn't beat rock!", Don won again by defeating Mikey's feeble paper with scissors. And so, Don and Raph faced off for their decision of who would be "it".

"Don't use paper, Raph," Mikey urged. "Donny finds ways to make it work against you!"

Raphael didn't listen, but he didn't need suggestions anyhow. He beat Don the same way he'd beat Leo.

"Alright," Raph said. "We'll hide, and you count to a hundred. No cheating, though! Those night vision goggles of yours gave you the advantage last time."

"Fair is fair," Donatello agreed. "But you guys can't leave this block, or I'll never find you!" He sighed, and pressed a hand over his eyes, slowly beginning his count. "One... two... three... four..."

"No peeking, Donny!" Mikey called, and Don heard his footsteps rush off into the distance and dissapear. He'd probably leapt to the next building top. He heard Raph and Leo run off in opposite directions, too. He'd find Raph first. He always tried to hide somewhere "unobvious", but his "unobviousness" was becoming predictable. After a minute or two of counting, he neared the end of his count.

"...Ninety seven... Ninety eight... Ninety nine... One hundred!" His eyes flew open. "Ready or not, here I come!" he shouted. He pulled his bo staff out from its place on his back and snuck carefully to the next roof. Ninja Stealth wasn't much different than Hide-And-Seek. The only real difference was that whoever was "it" had to sneak up on the whoever they were tagging. Don was careful, though. He made his way to the edge of the roof, and peeked over the side. Huh. So Raph wasn't hiding on the ledge this time after all. There was a fire escape ladder that led part of the way down off the roof. He snuck over to it, peering down. One of Mikey's nunchucks had gotten stuck on one of the rungs of the metal ladder. He couldn't be too far away...

He crept down the ladder just far enough to retrieve the nunchuck. Michelangelo would be looking for it as soon as he discovered it was missing. "He needs to be more careful sometimes," Don thought, tucking it into his belt for safe keeping. He peeked around the corner of the building. Nothing. Apparently his brothers had thought of better hiding spots since last time. Maybe Raph had gone down into an alley. Alleys were dark and often secluded, and that seemed like just the sort of place he'd like to hide in. Don decided it would be best to check around them next. He jumped down from the end of the fire escape ladder, landing in a crouching position on the sidewalk below. He rose to his feet, scanning his surroundings. No one was around to see him.

Sneaking into the alley way at his left, he glanced around. It was darker there because the light of the street lamps didn't reach in far enough, but he could make out the outlines of trash cans and the like. He heard someone exhale. Hah! One of his brothers had to be down here, and he was pretty sure his guess about Raphael had been right. Now Raph would have to help him find Mikey and Leo. Smirking at his success, he moved forward carefully. He didn't want Raph to notice him. He tightened his grip on the bo staff and reached it forward to jab his brother. Nothing.

Well aware of the fact that he was not alone, he tried again to hit Raph with the bo. Again, nothing. He repeated this process until he had become frustrated. "Alright, that's enough, Raph," he sighed frustratedly. "I know you're here. I got you, okay? Now help me find Leo and Mikey." No reply. Donatello rolled his eyes. He hated it when Raph decided to play dirty. He pressed his hand to the wall next to him and felt along it. He could distinguish a door. This was probably where the people took out their garbage, so there had to be a light somewhere. He fumbled overhead for a dangling string and gave it a tug. Light poured into the area around him.

"Raph," he started, "stop being so--"

A pair of bright blue eyes stared at him, shocked, afraid and unblinking. Donatello, in turn, stared as well.

What was it..? Orange and fuzzy, the little creature stood probably just over two feet tall. No wonder his bo staff had missed it. It looked like a fox; the sort of fox you'd see in a cartoon. White gloves covered its hands, and it wore red and white sneakers. Two tails moved vaguely from side to side behind it. Its right hand clutched the upper part of its left arm, and it stared at Don with a curious mix of awe and fear.

Not unused to strange beings from other worlds, or even aliens for that matter, Don wasn't frightened, but he certainly was a little confused. And suspicious. Where did this thing come from? And what was it doing here? It was no triceriton, or Battle Nexus ally. It looked misplaced and surprised, and moreover... wounded.

"I... uhm... " Don began, hoping that it understood English, and hoping further that it might respond in said language. But it didn't. It stared at Don another few seconds, took two steps away from him and abruptly collapsed. Don's bo staff clattered to the pavement next to him.

* * *

On the other side of the building, Raphael rolled his shoulders and yawned. Donny sure was taking his time. He didn't know exactly what time it was, but it was late, and he could tell because the air was getting chillier. If Don didn't find him in the next five minutes, he'd go find _him_. They needed to get home soon. Footsteps sounded, nearing his hiding place under a window ledge. He perked up, wondering if Donatello had finally managed to locate him after all.

Michelangelo appeared around the side of the building, panting a little. Leo was at his heel. Both looked surprised to see him.

"Donny's not with you?" Mikey asked worriedly between pants.

"No..." Raph responded slowly. "He didn't find either of you?"

Leo shook his head. "He didn't. We thought maybe he found you first, and you guys were looking for us. I guess not..."

Raph jumped down from his place and joined his two brothers. "I wonder where he went? Don's level headed. He's usually good at finding us. Maybe we should just go back to the lair, and he'll meet up with us once he realises we left."

"Master Splinter wouldn't like it," Leo insisted sharply. "We have to go back together."

"How the shell are we supposed to find him?" the red bandana wearing turtle queried. "We got a whole city block to check out, and we're gettin' a little short on time."

"There are three of us now, though," Leonardo replied. "We split up. I'll take the roof tops, Mikey can take the sidewalk, and you can go between buildings. Sound good?"

The other two agreed.

In total, they spent about fifteen minutes scouring the block, looking for Donny. Leo took to the roof tops, as he'd said, and found nothing. Mikey went around the whole block, careful not to be spotted by any random passerbys, and also found nothing. Needless to say, Raph found just as much as his brothers did. Nothing. Concerned, the three met up on the corner of the roof of an apartment building.

"I guess there's nothing more we can do," Leo said. "We'll just have to head back to the lair. Donny will figure out we've left and probably come back. I hope he's okay."

"And I hope Master Splinter isn't still awake when we get home, or he'll see us without Donny. And then we'll get in trouble for not sticking together." Michelangelo sighed. "Oh well. I guess we'd better take our chances. C'mon!" He leapt down from the small apartment building with a cry of "Cowabunga!"

"Bonehead," mumbled Raph as he and Leo followed.

* * *

When the trio of turtles arrived back at the lair, they were soundly surprised. All of the lights were on. Did this mean Master Splinter was still up? Were they doomed? Mikey poked his head into the doorway, peeking around to check for their rat master. He couldn't see him. Motioning for his brothers to follow, he snuck noiselessly into the well luminated room.

"Guys!"

All three of them jumped.

Donatello appeared in their bedroom doorway. "I wondered when you'd realise I was gone," he said playfully in a hushed voice, barely audible from where he was.

"Donny!" Leo hissed. "You scared the shell out of us! Why did you leave like that! We thought Master Splinter was going to kill us for losing you, or something!"

"I can explain," promised the purple bandana wearing turtle. "Come on. I'll show you. But be quiet." He wandered over to where the sofa sat facing their many TV screens. Stopping at the side of the sofa, he waited for the others to follow. They exchanged a glance before cautiously creeping over to where Donatello stood.

"Alright," he said seriously. "Promise me you won't make a big fuss. I'll explain to Master Splinter when he gets up." With a green two-fingered hand, he gestured to the sofa. Mikey approached it first, looking over the back.

"Uhm... do you think it's _safe_ harbouring weird alien things in our house?" he asked.

Leo and Raph both took a look, too. A small fox lay face up with its eyes closed. A blanket covered it, pulled up right to its chest. The three turtles gave Don a skeptical look. "I know we've dealt with inter-dimensional beings before, but I think this is kind of risky," Leo told him honestly. "Do you even know what dimension this thing came from? I mean, how do we know it won't try to attack us?"

"Trust me," Don said firmly. "It doesn't look like the type. It was terrified of me, and it blacked out. It's hurt, too. I couldn't just leave it. It had to have come here by accident, and if the people of New York saw it, they' all just freak out. I mean, they're not exactly accepting of anything alien to their planet, especially after that triceriton invasion."

"You'd better hope Master Splinter doesn't kill you, Donny," Raph cautioned. "And since you found it, you have to tell him. We ain't doin' it."

"I know, I know." Don crossed his arms. "I'll take the blame."

"Take the blame for what, my son?" Just behind him, Master Splinter was exiting his bedroom, walking stick in hand.

"Don found a weird thing and so he brought it back to the lair!" Mikey blurted before anyone else had a chance to say anything.

The old rat raised a bushy eyebrow. "Is this true, Donatello?"

"Yes," mumbled Donny sheepishly. "It's probably from another dimension, and New York isn't a safe place for it if it's not from around here. Besides, it was hurt. I had to do something. I'm sorry..."

"It is alright." Leaning on his walking stick, Splinter made his way over to where the turtles were standing. He carefully noted their visitor, either still unconscious or asleep. "Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "Very well. It may stay until we have found the means to return it to wherever it came from."

"Yes, Master Splinter." Don bowed respectfully.

"Now, go and get some sleep," he instructed. "But be ready for training in the morning."

* * *

Tails yawned and thoughtfully recounted the strange dream he'd had during the night. Something about bright light, and soreness, and big green monsters... It was sort of all mushed together in his head now. He stared groggily at the ceiling for what felt like several minutes before realising it was not his own. It was a sandy-colored stone ceiling. He blinked at it, clearing his vision. The stone ceiling didn't go away, nor did it start to look anything like the ceiling of his own bedroom. He felt color drain from his face. This didn't look familiar at all. He didn't even recall coming here.

Sitting up slowly, a pain in his arm caught him by surprise. The upper half of his left arm was secured well with bandages. A vague splotch of blood had made itself partly visable through the layers. What? Didn't he dream that? His mind pounded with his frantic thoughts as he tried desperately to latch onto something, _anything_, familiar in this place. His eyes darted to the side. Many TVs in varying sizes stared blankly at him, their screens dark. He became aware of sound behind him. Soft sounds, like light footwork.

Dreading what he might see, Tails slowly turned his head to peer over what was apparently the back of the sofa he was on. A green monster with two swords was hopping swiftly around lit candles with its eyes closed. With blinding speed, it put out every second candle with only the weapons. Nearby, a grey rat observed its technique.

The little fox began to feel light headed from shock and confusion. That green monster he saw in his dream was real? Had that even been a dream at all? Overwhelmed, he flopped back down onto the pillow, gazing hopelessly at the ceiling. No explainations surfaced in his mind. He couldn't explain any of these things; how they got there, where they came from, why he was having anything to do with them.

Unfortunately, the rat had noticed him. It rose to its feet.

"Leonardo," it said quietly. "We will resume your training at another time. I think it best that we summon Donatello..."

The green monster paused, turning to look at the rat. "Why, Master?"

"Because our guest is awake."

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	2. The Little Mechanic

_**Author's Note: **Chapter two! Thank you for being my first reviewer, Goddess of Idun. I appreciate it so much. Take care! _

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Leo prodded at Don hastily. "Get up!" he ordered urgently.

Donatello stretched out in bed and gave a relaxed sigh. "I'll be up in afew minutes, Leo," he responded, his voice partially muffled by the pillow. "Tell Master Splinter I'll do ten backflips as soon as I'm up..." He turned over.

"Get up!" Leo said again, more urgently this time. "That... that... _thing_. It's awake now! Get up, Donatello!" He gave his brother a firm shove.

"It's up?" Don repeated. "Alright, alright. I'm coming." Groggily, he forced himself up and followed Leonardo out into the main room, and then toward the sofa. He was curious to see what this thing was up to now that it was awake, but he slightly envied Mikey and Raph and their peaceful slumber. Oh well. There would be time for a cat nap later. He looked around. Blue eyes peeked at him from behind the back of the sofa. It noticed him watching it and ducked out of view again. Nervousness, Don supposed. He made his way over to the sofa.

"Feeling any better?"

The little fox jumped slightly. Apparently this was the first time anyone had attempted to communicate with it since it was brought to the lair. It was trembling just a little. "I... uhm... yeah. Better than earlier." The voice was meek and young, and distinctively male. Still, he didn't attempt to make eye contact with Donatello.

Pleased that at the very least, they both spoke English, Don tried to continue conversation. "You passed out just after I encountered you," he said. "How did you hurt yourself?"

"I don't know..." The fox had his knees hugged to his chest. He still didn't dare turn to face the green monster. Now it seemed that there was more than one... This one, and the one with the swords. He could only hope at this point. Hope than neither were violent. And hope that the rat wasn't, either. This one seemed alright, though. "Where is this place?"

"Underground New York," the Ninja Turtle replied. "I take it you're not from around here. I'm sorry if you're still afraid of us. Let me tell you, though, that none of us are hostile. Raph's a bit short-tempered, but he's alright. None of us are all too sure about who you are, or---"

"Tails," the little fox cut in softly.

"What?"

"Tails," he said again. "My name. Call me Tails."

"Oh!" Don smiled at his communication success. "I'm Don."

"Don..." Tails repeated thoughtfully. "Short for Donald?"

"Donatello," the turtle corrected. "We... that is, my brothers and I, we're named after artists who were famous in this world. Once Mike and Raph get up, I'll introduce you to them, too."

There was a small nod in reply, but Tails didn't say anything else. He still looked nervous and rather small, and he was still curled up, facing away from his hosts. Leo gave Don a curious but expectant look from about ten feet behind him, as though waiting for some form of informational update.

"His name is Tails," Don relayed. "And that's about as much as I've managed to establish. I told him that we're not enemies, though."

"Well, at least he knows that much. Is he afraid of us?"

"It looks like it. He hasn't turned to look at me since I approached him. I'll try some more." He turned back to their visitor. "So..." he began again. "The blood hasn't come through those bandages yet, has it?"

"No..."

"Alright. I should change them later anyway, just for good measure."

"Who brought me here?" came the soft query. "Was it you, or that other one with the swords?"

"It was me," Donatello responded. "The other guy is Leonardo. Call him 'Leo'. The rat is Master Splinter. He's like our father, and he taught us everything we know." He watched the small and silent figure for a moment longer before deciding it would be best to leave him alone until he relaxed a little. "I'll be out of the room working on something. Feel free to look around if you want to," he offered finally. "See you." He rejoined Leonardo not far away. "I can't say I'm making much progress," he said honestly. "I suppose he's too confused and nervous to say much."

"If we leave him alone awhile, he might loosen up," Leo suggested.

"I know. That's what I think, too."

Leo unsheathed his katanas. "Wanna go a round?" he asked. "Master Splinter said we wouldn't have to practise with Mike and Raph for as long if we did."

"Sure," his brother agreed. "Let me get my bo."

* * *

Curled up on the sofa, Tails had nothing to do but recount what had happened thus far, and ways it possibly could have happened. Although he was still too nervous to face those green creatures, he was becoming increasingly interested in whatever it was they were doing down here. He could hear Don and Leo racing around doing something, but he was too busy thinking to take notice. And he was becoming _de_creasingly interested in staring at the same part of the floor for minutes on end. Mustering up some courage, he got up meekly and carefully walked down into what appeared to be the main room behind him. Donatello and Leonardo were now both leaning up against stone pillars, panting lightly.

"Good fight," Leo puffed. He could only tell it was Leo (and not Don) because he recognised the voice from earlier. He wore a blue bandana, but Tails didn't take note of much else.

"Yeah. Thanks. You were great, too." Don smiled and picked up his bo staff. Hmmm... he had a purple bandana. Maybe they used it as some means of identification, as they didn't appear to differ much in physical appearance, as far as he'd noticed. "Better get back to those hoverboards. Mikey's going to be bothering me all morning if I don't finish fixing his." He walked off in the direction of another room. Tails watched them curiously. They had been fighting? They practised fighting in here? Weird.

"Morning, dude!" greeted a partly casual, partly enthusiastic voice from behind him. Tails jolted in surprise, and turned partially to see another green figure. He hasn't really paid much attention to their appearances up until now, but this one was so close to him that it gave him a much better opportunity to analyze its physical attributes..

They weren't really monsters _or_ creatures. They looked like big walking turtles. A colored bandana covered its eyes with slits cut through so it could see, just like the other two. This one had an orange bandana, however. Pads covered its knees and elbows, and there were bands around the wrists and ankles. And of course, since it was a turtle, it had a shell.

"Did you see where Donny went?" the turtle figure asked as though Tails was a regular part of his environment. "I gotta remind him to fix my hoverboard!"

"He said something about that a second ago," Tails responded in something of a shy voice. He felt slightly less intimidated by the laid back nature of this one. "Then he went somewhere else."

"Righto. Thanks, dude." The orange-bandana wearing turtle gave him a pat on the shoulder and wandered off in the direction that Donatello had gone in.

"Wait!" The little fox ran after him. The orange-bandana wearing turtle gave him a friendly smirk.

"What's up?"

"W- would you... you know... show me around a little bit?" He hesitated. "Uh, please..?"

"Heh! Sure! You got it." The turtle picked up the pace a little and Tails had to hasten himself to keep up. "This is where we train," the turtle explained, gesturing to the area around him as they walked through it. "It's big and open, and we're less likely to break stuff while training. Hehehe."

"You practise? Practise what?"

"Ninjutsu," the turtle replied with mock seriousness, mimicking his master's voice. "The art of invisibility!"

"You're ninjas?" The fox gave him a slightly surprised look. He'd never have expected that to be the case. Ninja Turtles? "I guess that explains what the other two were doing earlier. Don and Leo, I think."

"Yep." The turtle scratched at the back of his neck. "And I'm Mikey. Michelangelo. How 'bout you?"

"Tails," he answered shortly. Tails was beginning to feel better now that he'd found someone to talk to. Michelangelo just seemed approachable by nature. Maybe it was the laidback-ness that reminded him of Sonic. Now, perhaps he could find some means of an explaination of where exactly he was, and how he had come to be there. Where and what was New York, and why were they underneath it? "M.. Michelangelo?"

"Call me Mikey."

"Mikey... One of the others said that we're in 'underground New York'. What's New York?"

"A city!" Mikey replied. "New York, New York. See, we live in the city of NYC in the state of New York. Cool, eh?"

How confusing. He was assuming that states divided the different parts of countries. There were different countries where he came from, or at least, sort of, and they were segmented apart, but not with states. There were cities, though, just like here.

"It's a pretty big place. We call it 'The Big Apple'."

"If it's so big," Tails ventured, "why do you live under it? Are you notorious or something?"

"Nah," Mike replied calmly. "We're mutants. Most of the New Yorkers are humans, but we aren't. That's why we look the way we do. We were mutated by ooze. We live underground because the humans don't understand. You'd think that after we saved their butts from an alien invasion that they'd be a little nicer, but now they just think _we're_ aliens, too. Vicious cycle, I tell yah." He chuckled. "Anyway..." They wandered into a doorway. "This is the room I share with my bros."

Tails peeked in. It was kind of a mess, but that wasn't to say that his own room back where he came from wasn't, too. It was dark, but he could make out some of the furniture. And... a hammock? Apparently, there was something in it, too.

"That ugly thing in the corner is Raph," Michelangelo jested. "It's about time he got off his shell and did something." He snuck into the room and smacked the motionless blob in the side of the head. It grunted in response.

"Go 'way, Mikey..."

"Master Splinter said you had to be up soon, or you'd have to do fifty backflips," the other teased.

The blob gave another grunt and heaved itself out of its hammock. Walking back into the light with Michelangelo, Tails realised it was another of the turtle people. This one wore a red bandana.

"This is Raphael," explained Mikey. "He's normally not this groggy and disoriented, but oh well."

"Shaddup." Raph backhanded Mikey in the head and headed for the punching back near the edge of the main room. "Where'd I put my sais?" he mumbled, looking around.

"Are there any more of you?" Tails asked.

"Nah." Mikey shrugged. "You met me, and Leo, and Donny and Raph. You just need to meet Master Splinter. Hey! I have an idea. I'll show you my comics! _Everyone_ likes the Silver Sentry!"

"The silver who..?"

Michelangelo dashed back into the darkness of his bedroom and emerged with a thick stack of comic books. "The Silver Sentry!" he said again. "He's a super hero with super powers who saves the wolrd from ultimate destruction!" He carefully pulled an issue from the stack. "This is the coveted issue number three," he explained proudly. "The cover was drawn by a big important comic guy, and so it's one of the most popular issues."

"I see."

"Oh! Oh!" Mikey dashed excitedly back into his room, returning with a box. "And this," he stated, lowering his voice as not to be overheard. "Is stuff I 'borrowed' from Donny." He pulled out a peculiar looking gadget. "MP3 player!" He pulled out something else. "Interdimensional translator!"

Tails carefully took it out of his hands. "What can it translate?"

"Any language into any other language!"

Ah, machinery. Now this was something he liked to look at. Little electronic gadgets and the like. "Wow! Where did you get it from? Does New York sell things like these?"

Michelangelo laughed. "Nope! It's Triceraton technology. We got it from a friend. It got busted, though, so Don had to fix it." He perked up. "Speaking of Donny, I wanna see if that hoverboard is done!" He put his stuff back in his room, and ran off in the direction of the room that Donatello had dissapeared into earlier.

"Wait!" Tails cried, rushing after him, the translator still in his hand. This place still seemed too new to him. He didn't want to end up wandering around in it. It was best to stick with his only friend so far. Maybe this guy could answer some of his questions later, too. He didn't catch up with the orange bandana wearing turtle until they'd arrived in what looked like a garage. A motorcycle was leaning against one wall, and there were tools all over the place. Some he recognised, some he didn't.

"Donny!" Mikey called. "Finished yet?"

There came a sigh. "No, not yet. Give me awhile longer." Donatello poked his head out from behind a shelf. "I was looking for a part I dropped."

Tails looked at the machine in his hand. "Did you really fix this?" he asked without thinking. Don frowned at Mikey.

"So _you_ took that. I wondered where it dissapeared to."

Mikey gave a guilty smirk. "Sorry. It's funny to use it to insult Raph." He turned to Tails. "C'mon, little dude! I can show you some other stuff, if you want."

"It's alright," Tails said softly. "I think I'm going to stay here for a minute, if that's okay."

"Oh. Sure. I'll be surfing the channels if you need me. Gotta see if anything good is on right now. Probably not during the week..." He left.

Tails turned his attention back to Donatello, who had managed to find the small piece he had dropped and was fitting it back into part of a hoverboard. He watched this curiously. Never in his whole life had he ever encountered anyone who seemed to work as diligently with anything, let along machinery. Where he came from, no one but Dr. Eggman shared that hobby in common with him.

"Did you build all this stuff?" he asked in wonder.

"Yeah," Don responded without looking up from the wires he was reconnecting. "I used Triceraton technology and blueprints, but it's a pretty do-it-yourself job. And my brothers are always breaking things, especially Mikey. I see you met him."

"Yes. I like him. He's friendly." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "But... do you do this all by yourself, this mechanic work?"

"Heh, I have to," answered the turtle. "My brothers aren't into fixing stuff like this. I mean, Raph likes his bike and all, but he won't work on anything else. I guess this is sort of my hobby. Mikey has his video games and comic books, Leo has his training and meditation, Raph has his fighting and biking... and me? I have this."

Tails smiled a little for the first time since he'd arrived. "Would you mind if I helped?"

Donatello looked at him in surprise. "'Helped'?" he repeated.

"Where I come from," the fox began, "my hobby is just the same as yours. It's something about the way things fit together, and the way a piece of machinery sounds when you get it working properly."

"It's a feeling of accomplishment, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It is. So... would you mind?"

The turtle gave a soft smile. "If you put it that way, then go ahead."


	3. Possible Solutions

Master Splinter had spent a peaceful but realitively uneventful morning in his room, meditating. Peace was a precious thing for him; time to reflect on thoughts and beloved memories from his past. Peace also meant that his sons were not trying to kill each other, and that Michelangelo wasn't breaking things. Peace meant some time for himself. He sighed in a relaxed manner in cross-legged position, his eyes closed. This was lovely.

"Waaaaargh! Raph, noooo!"

His eyes flew open. Oh brother. Not again. Not now.

"Master Splinteeer!" Mikey wailed, racing into the room with Raph hot on his heels. "Help! Help!"

"Calm down, my son," Splinter insisted. "Now tell me, what is going on?"

"You little bugger!" snarled Raphael, pinning his brother against the wall. "That's the last time I--"

"Raphael!" cut in Splinter sharply. "Control yourself. Let go of your brother, and calmly explain to me what it is that you are fighting about."

"Raph's trying to kill me," Mikey insisted.

"Well, Mikey made me sit on my sai!"

The rat sighed heavily. "Need I remind you that you are ninja? You may be children, but you must learn to behave more maturely. Raphael, a ninja is able to control his thoughts, actions and emotions. Excersize this, and perhaps you may find more peace. Michelangelo, it was improper to have not forewarned your brother of the placement of his weapons. See to it that this does not happen again."

"Yes, Master Splinter," the two mumbled, almost in synch.

"Apologize to one another, and then you will both take responsibility for your actions. Raphael, I want you to meditate with me. Michelangelo, you may go practise." He gave him a stern look. "And 'practise' does not mean TV."

* * *

Donatello honestly could never recall having so much to talk about. It was strange. There had always been someone around to lend a friendly ear, but it hadn't been quite the same as this time. His brothers didn't take much interest in his mech work until it was finished. They always enjoyed the end results; new gadgets to play with. But never before had someone actually enjoyed listening to his rambles about Triceraton technology and the power of simplicity as much as this. It was nice to have someone share something in common with you. As much as he did enjoy his conversations with Professor Honeycut, they were still quite unlike this.

He laughed as he finished putting away some tools. "He really said that to you? How ridiculous!"

"I know!" Tails enthused. "But Knuckles is a little rough around the edges. It's alright."

"He sounds a bit like Raphael," Don said thoughtfully. "I don't suppose there's anyone like Mikey where you come from?"

"No, not really." The fox scooped up spare bolts off the table top and put them back into their container. "I like him, though. He makes you feel welcome right away."

"I guess he does. We're just too used to him to notice. He gets on everyone's nerves alot of the time. At least he's good at staying chipper."

"Yeah." Giving a mid-afternoon yawn, Tails stretched. The bandage on his upper arm caught his attention again. He'd almost forgotten it was there. The red splotch had made its way a little further through the white material. "When was this put on me..?" he asked.

"Not long after I got you back to the lair," responded Donatello without looking over as he picked up Michelangelo's hoverboard and leaned it up against the nearest wall. "Are you sure you don't remember how you got hurt? It was a pretty bad gash." Making sure that the transportation device wasn't about to fall over, he at least turned his attention back to the fox. "Looks like it's almost gotten the better of those bandages. I'll fix it."

Retreating to the other side of the room, he picked up his first-aid materials and plunked them all down on the table. He knelt down and carefully removed the bandaging from the night before, treating the wound with a swab of ointment before covering it with gauze and winding new material around it.

Tails decided now was as good a time as any to bring up afew of the questions that he had planned to ask Michelangelo earlier. "Donatello?"

"'Don'," the turtle corrected gently.

The other nodded. "Right. Don. I... I mean, it's been nice to meet you and your brothers... well... _sort of_ meeting your brothers. But anyway... It's nice and all, but do any of you have any idea how I'm supposed to get back home?"

Don frowned thoughtfully. "I guess we ought to send you back the same way Leo tried to find his way back here once. We'll have to take you to the Battle Nexus and ask the Dameo to send you back with his War Staff."

"Battle Nexus?" Tails repeated grimly. "That doesn't sound very safe."

"Hahaha! No, it's okay. The Battle Nexus Championship is over for now. There won't be any combatants there or anything. Besides, Master Splinter is friends with the Dameo. We don't have anything to worry about." Don rose to his feet. "We'll go talk to him about it." He headed for the door. Almost at that exact moment, Leonardo appeared in front of it.

"Sensei wants us to do some sparring practise," the blue bandana wearing turtle informed. "You're with Raph."

"But you and I already practised this morning," Don protested.

"I know," replied Leo, "but Mike and Raph had a fight earlier, so they can't go up against each other. I mean, you know how Raph gets. Mikey just provokes him to anger even more than usual after they argue."

"Come on, Donny!" Leonardo jogged off in the direction of their practise area. Donatello shrugged and started after him.

"My apologies," he said to Tails. "Looks like I'm stuck sparring with Raph. You can come watch if you want to."

The fox nodded and followed him.

* * *

Watching a foursome of Ninja Turtles duke it out against one another was sort of strange. By all means, however, they were some of the best and most elite combatants he had ever seen. Their martial arts skills far surpassed anything Knuckles could do as far as punching was concerned, and their kicks were more study than Rouge's. He watched them with a curious sort of awe, wondering how anyone could learn to move so fast or kick so high.

Each of the four fought with the same basic style with variations to some movements. And each was armed with a different weapon. For this practise, the goal was to "fake" strikes, meaning they had to look like they were killing each other without actually inflicting damage. There were some exceedingly close calls, but nonetheless, during the whole practise, no one got hurt. They were that good.

Leonardo was the most focused fighter. He moved with precision and quickness, like he had practised these moves over and over until they were as close to perfect as he could get them. His katanas sliced the air with extreme accurasy and a strong sense of effort.

Raphael put the most force into his strikes. He would lunge forward furiously, like an enraged animal. His footwork wasn't as good as Leo's, but was obvious that he put more direct force into what he was doing. The twin sai in his hand looked to be as sharp as his personality.

Michelangelo's fighting style was sort of peculiar. He grinned alot, but he moved fast and had excellent dodging skills. He moved freely, like he wasn't trying as hard as everyone else. His nunchucks spun wildly in his skillfull hands, and he seemed to be trying to make his movements the most stylised.

Donatello had the lightest movements. He focused primarily on dodging and less on offensive moves. When he did attempt a strike, it was usually a retaliation against attacks thrown at him. He was good at blocking, and he manuevered his bo staff quickly and smoothly, never blundering. It looked like he was always thinking two or three moves ahead.

Eventually, Master Splinter told Michelangelo and Leonardo that they had done enough. He commented on how good Leo's accurasy was, and on how high Mikey's kicks were. "Donatello and Raphael, I would like for you to practise afew minutes longer," he decided. "Raphael, thinking more clearly will help your evasion. Donatello, try to strike more often." Both nodded. After several more minutes of Raph and Don going the rounds with each other, their rat master concluded the lesson, giving both several compliments. "All of you," he added, speaking to the whole group, "I would like you to work equally on your offensive and defensive moves. Simply working with one or the other will give you weak spots in battle."

The four agreed, and put away their weapons. Leo sighed, wiping his brow. "It's good practise, anyway. You did well, Michelangelo."

"Hehe, thanks!" The orange bandana wearing turtle grinned goofily, twirling one of his nunchucks. "You're not too bad yourself, Leo."

And then they all went their seperate ways. Leo went to talk with Master Splinter, Raph went to let out his frustration on the punching bag (which he was probably pretending was Michelangelo), Mikey went to play the next level of some video game, and Donatello went over to where Tails was sitting. He smirked lightly. "I guess now you've seen what we do down here all day," he said.

"You guys are really good!" the fox remarked. "How long did it take you to learn to fight like that?"

"Years." He sat down on the stairs next to his new comrade. "We started training basically as soon as we could walk. When we were old enough and skilled enough, we started training with weapons."

"Oh. You all learned to use different ones, it looks like."

"Eh, we know how to use each other's weapons, too. Whichever we fight with is basically just our weapon of choice. We polish up our skills on that one the most."

"I see." They both sat quietly for a minute. Mikey's video game could be heard in the background. Background music, and the sound of things exploding in-game. "So... what's Master Splinter like?"

"Experienced," Don summed up in a word. "He's wise and is well-versed in the way of the ninja. He's patient and good at making decisions. When he isn't around, Leo tries to be our leader. I mean, he doesn't _call_ himself the leader, but it's sort of an unannounced title, y'know?"

"Yeah. I have a friend like that, too." Tails paused. "Do you guys always stay down here? What do people have against you?"

"People don't like us because we're hard to understand. We're like them, but at the same time, we're so _un_like them. We're mutants. They way we look was sort of an accident. Besides, the citizens of New York have gone through alot. I guess the last thing they want to deal with is teenage mutant ninja turtles. New York City was home to an alien invasion awhile back. It caused alot of damage. Because of that, they're not quite as open to the idea of 'aliens' in their streets. Mind you, they weren't open minded about it before, either. Even still, I can't blame them."

"Neither can I. So, no one knows about you?"

"Well, not exactly 'no one'." The turtle slightly shifted in his sitting position. "We have afew friends we met under peculiar circumstances. And the Purple Dragons know about us. They're an organised gang that used to be in league with the Shredder, Oroku Saki. Saki was basically the undercover villain around here. He's gone now, though."

"Sounds dangerous! But you do go above ground alot?"

"Sure! Only at night, though." Don stretched. "We make sure no one is around to see us, and we play up on the rooftops. If there's anything going on with the Purple Dragons, we watch out for that, too. I guess we're kind of like a mini band of vigilantes or something." He chuckled. Turning around halfway, he managed to get a look at the digital clock he'd mounted on the wall. 3:27PM.

At that moment, all the sounds from Mikey's video game ceased to be audible, and there came a loud groan from in that general direction. "Doooonny," called Mikey in a guilty sing-song tone. "Can you come here a minute?"

Donatello sighed and heaved himself up off the stairs. "Coming, Michelangelo," he called in response. He looked at Tails. "Bet you anything he fried it." The two headed in the direction of Mikey and his video game. The turtle was waiting for them,flashing Donny a guilty smile.

"Uhh... Donny? I kinda friend the N64. Can you fix it?"

"Probably." The purple bandana wearing turtle, who was also the resident "techie" of the lair shoved several pizza boxes out of the way and proceeded to unhook the console. He unplugged the two controllers that were inserted in the front and handed them to his brother. "How many times have we managed to break this thing since we got it?"

"Not sure. I'm not the only one, though. You and Raph fried it once, too."

"I know." Having successfully unhooked the Nintendo 64, he picked it up, carrying it in one arm back in the direction he'd come from. "I'll bring it back when I'm finished. Let me play a round of Bust-A-Move as payment, okay?"

"You got it!" Mikey flopped back onto the sofa. "Now for some good ol' channel surfing!"

Don shook his head. "Anyway, Tails, wanna give me a hand with this? It only takes a minute, but you might like to see how this thing looks on the inside. For one thing, they try to manufacture these things so that you can't get them apart."

Tails gave him a baffled look. "But why?"

"They don't want you to attempt any 'fix it yourself' stunts. People like Mikey might do something foolish, after all!" He chuckled.

"Oh! That would be bad! It wouldn't work ever again after that, I bet!"

"Hahaha! Probably not!"

Just then, Leo walked out of Master Splinter's room. He nodded in greeting at Tails and Donatello. As they had almost passed by, he finally spoke up. "Don," he said. "You should go and talk to Master Splinter. You were going to, remember? In regards to what's going on..."

"Right! Sorry." Don smiled vaguely and brushed past Leo into the doorway of Master Splinters room. He gestured for Tails to follow him. "It's alright," he assured quietly at the sight of Tails' somewhat nervous expression. "Master Splinter is just going to help us figure out when would be the best time to bring you to the Battle Nexus." He gave Tails a soft push on the back to move him forward. "Don't worry, okay?"

Tails nodded softly. "Okay..."

The two walked into the room, Don still with the Nintendo 64 under his arm. Master Splinter sat on his knees in front of what looked much like a long wooden coffee table. He had wisened eyes, and his face was calm and understanding. "Donatello," he began. "You chose to wait awhile before speaking with me."

"I apologize, sensei," Don said, kneeling down across from the rat and positioning the Nintendo 64 on his lap awkwardly. "I got tied up with other things, I guess. I didn't mean to."

"I know, my son."

"But I did come up with a possible solution," the turtle offered. "If you could take us to the Battle Nexus, maybe the Dameo could help us with his War Staff."

"Hmmm... This is possible. We will go there and speak with him soon." The old rat shifted his attention to Tails, who tensed slightly out of nervousness. "And you, little one. You have been through much in the short time that you have been in this city. I respectfully insist that at the very least, you spend one more night here with us. You have alread been tossed into a new dimension without recollection of how, and it would be sudden to send you back by such powerful means so soon."

"I... uhm... alright. Thank you for your kindness." The fox bowed his head respectfully, as it seemed to be the right thing to do.

Splinter nodded at him. "Then it is settled. Sometime tommorrow at soonest, we will make our way to the Battle Nexus. In the mean time, Donatello, ensure that you and your brothers treat our guest kindly."

"Yes, sir." He smiled and got to his feet. "Thank you."

His rat master didn't say anything more for a moment. "However," he added as Donatello and Tails reached the doorway. "Do not neglect your training."

"I won't. I promise." And the two dissapeared out of sight.

Master Splinter smiled thoughtfully as they left. "But," he thought, "I am pleased that you have found yourself a friend."


	4. Independance Day

_**Author's Note: **My aplogies in advance. There's something of an opinionated description of a movie in this chapter. If you're partial to that particular movie, I apologize. It's just my opinion, and it was meant to be purely "entertaining". Even if it wasn't. So, I apologize, and it's not meant to offend. :)_

* * *

It didn't take Tails and Donatello very long to fix Mikey's N64. Evidently, the fan had worn itself out again and the system had gotten too hot. It was a quick repair, and as soon as Don had snapped the grey casing back on, he brought it back out to Mikey, who was eager to resume Perfect Dark. Or Pokemon Snap. Or whatever the heck he was playing. Don carefully plugged it back in and picked up a controller for himself. Mikey grabbed the other, but Don patiently yanked it away from him.

Michelangelo groaned. "Awww. Can't I play, too?"

"Nope. I'm playing Bust-A-Move, like you said I could."

"But it's multi-player..!"

"I know." Don yanked out the current cartridge and shoved in the Bust-A-Move game. He handed the other controller to Tails, who eyed it curiously. "But I've got company. So what the heck." He flopped backwards onto the sofa, next to a reluctant Michelangelo.

"Now," he said, starting up the game. "You see that arrow? It moves left and right, aligning where to shoot the sphere. The sphere color on the arrow indicates the one you're going to shoot. The object of the game is to clear the panel by aligning at least three spheres so they disappear. Make sense?"

The two-tailed fox gave the TV screen a baffled expression. "Yes," he said almost reluctantly, giving the controller another look. "But this controller is kind of..."

"Awkward? Yeah, I know. You'll get used to it." He leaned over and positioned Tails' small hands on the right-hand side of the controller. "Here. This'll work better. Not as much of a gap between your hands this way."

"Oh, okay."

"Don't worry. It's fun. You'll forget all about the weird controller."

"Guys?" Mikey whimpered. "How long are you gonna play for?"

"Patience, Mikey," Don said playfully. "After all, we did fix it. I could have waited until... you know, _tommorrow _or something. Maybe even next week."

"Fine..." And if there was one thing Mikey hated, it was watching others play video games in front of him. It was made worse by the fact that this was a puzzle game. Where was the element of fun in watching this? Eventually he gave up, and went off to pester Leo. No sense in getting within ten feet of Raphael today.

Tails and Donatello spent at least three quarters of an hour playing Bust-A-Move. The simplicity of the game made it more enjoyable. They had just turned off the N64 when Raphael came up behind them.

"Yo, Donny!"

"Oh, hey Raph. Cooled off since this morning?"

"Ugh, yes. Mikey is such a nimrod sometimes. I just wanna pound him into a wall or something. But anyway, got any idea about what we're gonna eat? I'm starvin'."

Don grimaced. "Darn. I completely forgot it was up to me tonight. Looks like I'm ordering pizza, then. At least Mikey won't mind." He gave Tails a glance. "Err, you eat pizza, right?"

"Of course! Just not with the little fishies." He smiled a little.

"I don't think anyone on earth actually _eats_ those things, kid," Raph jested. "Hope you don't mind that we plan to go topside tonight, too."

Tails blinked at him. "'Topside'?" he repeated. "Like... above ground?"

"Exactly." He leaned on the back of the sofa. "We go up at night to train and to have some fun. Guess you're comin' with us, then."

"Guess so..!"

"Meh." Don got up. "Better go order the pizza." He picked up his shell cell off the coffee table and dialed a number from memory. In afew minutes, he had ordered it. "Okay. Tell Mikey he can go wait for it in the usual spot. He can have first dibbs if he wants, too."

* * *

After some good ol' pizza and some chit-chat about various happenings during the day, the Ninja Turtles decided it was about time they went 'topside'. They informed their rat master of their decision to go out, and after he insisted several times that they weren't to be seen, they headed out. And of course, Tails tagged along. He felt a little like the misfit of the group. He'd managed to get along with two out of four of them, at the very least, but when they were all together, they cracked jokes he didn't understand and goofed about things he'd never heard of. So, he followed them in relative silence, wondering exactly what it was that they planned to do in New York City's dim evening light.

Surfacing from a manhole on a street corner, they all carefully darted into the shadows of the nearest building. No one was around, except for the occassional taxi driver. This seemed to be a more secluded area of the city.

"We'd better lay low," Leo whispered. "It's lighter out than I thought it would be. If we hit the rooftops and stay quiet for a bit, we can find something to do once darkness settles in." He lead the way to the side of the building. "Let's go!" With the grace of an acrobat and the skill of a true martial artist, he used the fire escape and window ledges on the building's side to leap silently up to the rooftop. His brothers followed.

Don waited as the other three easily made their way upward. He turned to Tails. "I'll give you a hand, if you want," he offered, unsure of if there was actually any other way of getting up if the fox declined his offer. And sure enough, he did decline.

"It's okay, Don," he said. "I've got a way."

"Alright..." Don replied uncertainly. He decided to wait, and go up last, in case Tails' plan --whatever it was-- was a little faulty. Tails gave him something of a confident smile and jumped off the ground as high as he could manage. However, much to the surprise of Donatello, he didn't come back down. His two tails whipped around at an amazing speed, mimicking the propellor of a helicopter. Somehow, despite this seeming to defy all logic of anatomy, it still worked, and his peculiar means of flight did, too. Tails gave him a playful wink and headed for the rooftop.

"Come on!"

Donatello recovered from his momentary shock and followed suit up the side of the building, the way his brothers had gone. In a moment, the group of five was back together. Tails landed carefully on the rooftop. The other three stared incredulously.

"How did you..?"

Tails felt his face get warm. It wasn't very often that his ability to fly recieved attention like this. "It's nothing," he said modestly. "Back at home, everyone I know has some sort of skill like that."

They all sat on the rooftop in relative silence. Mikey was poking at some random piece of rusted piping he'd discovered out of boredom, and Raph was spinning a sai thoughtfully in one hand. Leo was looking up at the darkening sky. "Quiet night," the katana-wielding turtle said. Everyone else nodded in agreement. Leonardo got up. "I'm going to go practise my spin kicks," he decided. "If anyone wants to come, the only condition is that they be quiet." Raph went with him. Don decided it would be better manners to stay with his friend.

This left Michelangelo, Donatello, and Tails by themselves. "I bet there's some kid watching Justice Force nearby," Mikey declared. "I'm gonna go spy on him. Wanna come?"

Don shook his head. "That's okay. Come back soon, though, Mikey, because Leo and Raph won't be long, I'm sure."

"Got it." With a snicker, the turtle hopped off silently down to the side of the building.

"So this is New York." Tails sat with his knees hugged to his chest, gazing out at the seemingly endless mass of buildings and lights set out before him. He could hear distant city sounds, too; car horns and the like. In some ways, it was so alike his own home, and in others, it was so different it made his head spin. He felt sick to think that creatures as kind and as intelligent as these were basically shunned by society and the humans which inhabited it. Why? How was that fair? These turtles were as good as any person he had ever known back at home. They were as good as his friends. They were skilled and unique, and he was sure that if they could mingle in with society, they would probably make alot of friends. But they couldn't. They hid in the shadows not only as ninja, but as 'freaks'. He sighed thoughtfully, immersed in thoughts of the strange beauty of the city.

Donatello placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you glad you're going home tommorrow?" he asked. "I guess it'll be nice to leave this place, since while you're here, you have to hide out just the way we do."

"I suppose. But I don't mind being with you guys." The two-tailed fox tilted his head at the vast city stretching out all around him. "I wish you didn't have to hide like you do."

"Hmm? Why's that?"

"Because... you... the four of you... You're great. You're all witty and fun. It makes me feel bad that no one knows about you."

"Not 'no one'," Donatello corrected. "We have afew human friends. April and Casey, for example. They'd probably love to meet you, but they went to another city for the week, so they aren't here right now."

"I understand," Tails said. "I have a question. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, though." He paused. "Do you want me to go home?"

This was a hard question to answer. Multiple response options that came to mind either sounded rude or unfair. The chose his words carefully. No sense in upsetting anyone. "Yes," he said after a moment. "You belong somewhere else, and wherever that is, there are others who need you. I could never leave here because I'd be leaving my brothers, and even if they're a little frustrating sometimes, I love them anyway."

"I know what you mean. There are things I need at home. I need Sonic. I need my workshop, and the Tornado. I even need Knuckles. It's too hard to think about leaving the ones you care about." He frowned. "Something just occured to me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. The time flow here might be different than where I come from. I don't know if it would be faster or slower, or if it's exactly the same, but I wonder if it's going to cause a problem."

"No need to worry about that," Don said. "If anything's out of whack, Lord Simultaneous can fix it with the Time Scepter. We don't want to mess up time, of course." He smiled. Just then, Michelangelo leapt back up onto the roof behind them. He was grinning, and looked generally entertained.

"Best. Episode. Ever," he proclaimed. "It was the one where the Silver Sentry discovers his x-ray vision for the first time. So cool! Hey, Donny, d'you think you can make me something for x-ray vision?"

"Don't ask," laughed Don. "You don't need x-ray vision."

"Yes I do," insisted Michelangelo. "How else can I be the _ultimate _Turtle Titan?"

"Give it a rest, Mikey," Raph told him as he and Leo rejoined the group. "It's getting dark. I think we can start movin' around now."

"I agree." Leonardo sheathed his katanas and crossed his arms over his solid chest. "So, what do you guys want to do? Training excersize, or game?"

"Game," Raph said firmly. "But last time we played a training game, Donny got us into trouble." He gave his brother a teasing smile. "But what regular game should we play?"

"Tag," Leo suggested. "And afterwards, we can stop by April's and borrow a movie."

"But she isn't home," Mike reminded.

"I know. She said we could borrow anything we needed as long as we weren't seen, and brought whatever it was back in one piece. We could probably get in through the upstairs window." He rethought what he'd just said. "Hmm, maybe I'll go myself. There's less intrusion that way. I'll meet you guys back at the lair after the game. Sound good?"

There was a mesh of agreement.

"Right. I'll be it. You guys get a thirty-second head start. Better get running." And he began his countdown, watching as the other three turtles began rushing off in different directions. Don signaled for Tails to follow him before taking off for the next roof. It was a good game; it gave the turtles a chance to practise their agility and stamina, running and leaping from one building to the next. Tails on the other hand was rather accustomed to running games because of the ones he played with Sonic. Even without vigorous martial arts training, he was able to keep up with the others, despite being slightly less than half as tall as them. As soon as Leo had finished his count, he tore after them, managing to get in hot pursuit of Raphael within the first minute.

Weaving and ducking, Raph eluded Leo for another thirty-five seconds before he was caught and had to start aiding Leo in tagging the others. Raph went to hunt down Michelangelo as 'vengeance', which left Leo to take off after Don and Tails, who were still within sight of each other. The chase went on for another few minutes due to a mass amount of swerving and hopping back and forth between rooftops, but eventaully Don stumbled, and Leo managed to tag him as well. "Three out of five!" Leo declared. "You help Raph catch Mikey, and I'll go get Tails." Don nodded and took off in the direction Raphael had headed. Mike and Leo were always the hardest to catch, so he was pleased that at least Leo was on their side. If he caught Tails soon, it would be the four of them up against Michelangelo, and he wouldn't last long that way. He yanked his bo staff out from its place on his back, carrying it in his hand instead. Maybe they could catch Mikey with just a little extra reach.

"Raph!" he called. "Catch!" He threw the bo to Raph, who managed to catch it without slowing down. He grinned victoriously. There was no escape for Mikey now. Mikey shrieked as Raph jabbed at him with the bo staff, missing only by an inch. He pushed himself to run harder. He wasn't going to be caught for at least another five minutes, he hoped. That would leave him with some more good bragging rights. Don and Raph raced after him. It was already bad enough that they would never heard the end of his Battle Nexus Champion stories.

Meanwhile, Leo was surprised that anything so small could move so fast. Tails was starting to tire out from running, but he pressed on anyway. Games with these guys were so much easier than games with Sonic and Knuckles. Knuckles' superior strength and Sonic's blinding speed often left him with next to no chance of winning. With these guys, he was doing alright. Leo didn't slow down, though. It was almost like he never got tired. As soon as the fox slowed up, the blue bandana wearing turtle easily caught up with him and tagged him, too.

"Donny! Raph!" he shouted. "Did you get Mikey?"

"No!" Don shouted back. "Come help us!"

"Come on," Leo said to Tails. "It's us against Mikey, and if we don't catch him soon, he's going to brag all night!" The two raced after Raph and Don. Michelangelo was using every cheap tactic he could think of to stay ahead and untouched. Leo tore past Raph, yanking Don's bo staff out of his hands. They were going to catch him in the next few minutes. They had to. Raph ran ahead and tried to block off Mikey from getting past. "Hah!" Leo cried. "This is it, Mikey! We have you now!"

Mikey squacked and tried to go to the other side, but Don blocked him off. He ducked past him anyway and started running again. The other three groaned in frustration.

"Hahaha! You're never going to catch me!" Michelangelo declared.

"I'll never catch him on foot," Tails thought dimly. "He runs faster than I do. I guess I can't help them that way." This left flight as his only option. Heck, if flight enabled him to do a half-decent job of keeping up with a super-sonic hedgehog, it could definately help him catch a turtle in a game of tag. "Leo! I'll block him off," he proposed. "You tag him!"

"Sure!"

Spinning his tails like a rotor, he sped after Mikey and managed to land somewhat faultily about ten feet in front of him near the edge of the current rooftop. Mike paused for a split second, contemplating which way he should go. And with that split second, Leo managed to catch up and give him a good whack across the shell with Don's bo.

"Haha! You were _saying_, Michelangelo?" He grinned. Raph and Don ran up behind him. "We caught the 'uncatchable'."

"Alright!" Raph smirked at Mikey. "Hah. No bragging rights for you this time. There ain't no way that was ten minutes."

Mike pouted. "Fine. I lose. But next time I'm 'it', and I'm gonna kick your shells!"

"Great game," Leo finished before Mike could rant on. "I'll go over to April's and grab a movie. You guys go back to the lair, okay? What do you want me to pick up?"

"'The Day After Tomorrow'," Raph decided. "I been itchin' to see a city freeze over. The stuff they come up with for movies these days...!"

"Yeah. OUR city is the one that freezes over in that movie, isn't it?" teased Don.

"Who cares! A movie's a movie! Get Independance Day, too, while you're over there, Leo," Mikey suggested.

"Augh! Independance Day sucks! I saw it on TV. The president saves the day from the aliens, of course." Raphael scowled.

"The president saves the world? Thanks for spoiling the end, Raph." Don rolled his eyes. "Oh well."

"Cut it out," Leo said. "I'll grab 'Independance Day' and 'The Day After Tommorrow'. Meet you back at the lair. Tell Master Splinter where I am if he asks." And with that, he leapt down off the side of the roof.

"Let's roll." Raph jumped down, too, followed by Mike. Don went after him. Tails, unsure of his jumping capabilities, just flew down instead, which made for a good slow descent.

* * *

In about twenty-five minutes' time, the other four had reached the lair. Master Splinter was probably aware of their return, but said nothing as he has occupied himself with something in his room for the moment. They waited for another minute or two before Leonardo showed up with the DVDs in hand. He walked up behind Michelangelo, who had taken his favorite seat in front of the TV, and dropped the DVD cases on his head playfully. "Thanks for taking my spot."

"Anytime, Leo," Mike grinned stupidly."Would you like to do the honours, since you're already up?"

"Eh, sure." He shot a glance at Don. "It's hooked up, right?"

"Should be," Donatello responded. "...Unless someone unplugged it for reasons unbeknownst to me."

"We talkin' 'bout the DVD player?" Raphael asked through a mouthful of popcorn as he wandered back into the room, a bowl of it (and other snacks) in his arms. "Yeah, it's plugged in." He flopped onto a chair."What're we watchin', anyway?"

"'Independance Day'." Leo inserted the DVD and threw the remote to Raph before sinking crossed-legged onto the floor next to the sofa. "And this time, Mikey can't pause it every time he wants a drink."

"Good thinkin'." Raph started the movie.

It was long, and somewhat tedious. Raph complained once near the beginning that he'd rather see New York go through another Ice Age, but other than that, everyone was quiet, which was honestly something of a first for Michelangelo. Despite trying to be mannerly, Donatello burst out laughing as soon as he saw the aliens, and this resulted in everyone else laughing with him for the next five minutes. They were kind of ridiculous-looking aliens, especially when viewed by mutants who had actually_ seen _aliens before.

"How are those people _surviving_?" Tails queried as the movie reached the part that showed the little brigade of survivors in the demolished ruins of the city. Mike frowned thoughtfully. "Hey, yeah!" he agreed. "If the city is blown to pieces, where are they getting gas for their vehicles? And food? And other stuff?"

At the very least, the movie had a somewhat positive ending that resulted in the world being safe once again. By that point, the dreary one hundred and fifty three minute long movie had left Raphael snoring and the others stretching a little after having sat through something that long.

Mikey pillaged what was left of Raph's snack food. Leo stood up and rolled his shoulders to make sure they were still functional after he'd slouched watching the last half of the movie. He sighed and muted the TV. "I honestly don't know what I thought of that," he said. "All I can say is... I'm picking the movie next time." He yawned. "I'm going to bed."

"Raph's already asleep," Mikey snickered. "I guess I'd better wake up the big lout." He picked up a soda can and hurtled it at Raphael's head. He awoke with a snort and immediatly scowled at Mikey.

"Stupid bonehead," he grumbled. "Whoa, movie's over? Eh, 'bout time. You guys goin' ta bed? I am. We can clean up in the morning." He too got up. Michelangelo backflipped off his chair to show off. Don, in the meantime, hadn't expressed any matter of opinion on the work of science fiction that they had just watched, which was kind of strange for him. Sci-Fi was like the root of everything to him, as far as movies went.

"Hey, Donny!" Mike said. "You coming?"

"Yeah, in a minute. You guys go ahead. I'll clean up."

Leo looked somewhat surprised. "Are you sure? I'll help."

"Nah, it's okay. I don't mind. Really. You guys get to bed and I'll catch up with you once I'm done."

Raphael shrugged. "Let 'im if he wants to, Leo. C'mon." He and the others exchanged afew more 'good night's and proceeded to their room, chatting a little about what they did and didn't like about the movie. Don remained glued to his seat. Tails had taken a pillow and propped it up against the turtle's side part way through the movie, and by now he was fast asleep, nestled against him in his blanket from the previous night. The movie credits rolled in the background, silent. After a moment, the only thing that could be heard was the vague hum of the DVD player. It was peaceful.

Donatello smiled fondly. "Sleep well," he said softly. He got up carefully and tucked the little fox in properly. He didn't stir. Don took out the DVD and turned off everything except a light to see by. It only took afew minutes for him to pick up the mess left by Mike and Raph. At least there wasn't a food scrummage for food. That would have resulted in stuff getting everywhere. Depositing the last of it in the garbage can, he realised that he, too, was drowsy, and thankfully headed for bed. Only one further thought crossed his mind as he clicked out the lights.

_...but... _

_Why tommorrow..?_


	5. Prolonged Concerns

_**Author's Note:** Thank you BloodWren and Zalein for reminding me to update! I had pretty much an entire chapter done and ready to post and didn't realise it. Uh, don't worry; next chapter will be more in good humor, and it'll have the other turtles in it. (Yay, Michelangelo!) Anyway, here we go:)_

_Thanks for looking!_

* * *

Tails slept well, and into the better part of the morning, too. He was roused some time around ten thirty in the morning due to the sounds of the turtles doing some means of loud training. Lots of shouting. He opened his eyes and groggily permitted himself to stare at the ceiling for a few minutes, listening to the martial arts practice going on not too far away. Vague commands, followed by shouting. He turned onto his side, ignoring it and yet listening to it at the same time. He was trying to recall fragments of his dream. Something to do with Sonic, and then something else to do with those ridiculous squid aliens. He smirked drowsily at the thought. 

Minutes passed, and finally the shouting in the background ceased. Tails would have fallen asleep again, except that Michelangelo came in to find the TV's remote. "Must watch TV!" he declared. Tails gave a muffled sigh as his groggy thoughts scattered. "Where did Donny put it?" Mike whimpered, rooting around under the coffee table in search of the device. He gave up in short order and went wailing back into the other room. "Doooonny! Where's the remote?"

In a moment's time, Donatello pushed past Mike. "It's on top of the TV, Mikey," he sighed. "Look harder next time, okay? Besides, I think you woke up Tails."

"I think he _needed_ to get up."

"Michelangelo."

"I'm just sayin'..! It's like quarter to eleven!"

"I'm up..." Tails yawned and pushed himself up on his unwounded arm. "I'm sorry for sleeping in. That was kind of rude of me..." He rubbed drowsily at his eyes. "I didn't realise I was that tired..!"

"Heh, and neither did we." Don smiled good-naturedly. "It's alright, though. You've been through a lot, I'd say. How about I fix those bandages for you, and then we go talk to Master Splinter?"

"Alright." The two-tailed fox hopped off the couch and slid into his sneakers before following Donny back to his lab. Mikey grinned and immediately went for the TV remote. At least the channels were all his to enjoy. Hopefully Raph didn't want to watch something stupid.

Don had Tails' bandages replaced in a few minutes. "There," he said finally. "All tidied up. I'm still curious as to how you got hurt in the first place, though."

"I honestly don't remember. I still don't even vaguely know the circumstances for my being here... Thank you for helping me, though." He smiled.

Don smiled too, but his eyes looked slightly regretful. "It's nothing. We'll get you to the Battle Nexus, and the Daimyo will send you back to where you belong. Come on. Let's go see Master Splinter."

The two headed for the wise rat's room. He seemed to be practicing some form of poise. As soon as Donatello and Tails entered, however, he allowed himself to relax. "Hello, my son. And good morning to you, little one." Leaning on his walking stick, he moved past them and closed the door. "Let us talk."

"Yes, master." Don bowed and sunk cross-legged to the floor. Tails scooted over next to him. He was still nervous about the rat. His lack of understanding for this wise being made him slightly prudent. "About the Battle Nexus..." the turtle started.

"Yes... In regards to this, and our current situation. Late last night, I attempted to contact the Daimyo in hopes of establishing the next part of a plan. However, it seems that the Daimyo himself is away as of now, and he has left the Gyoji to take care of important matters."

"Oh."

"Indeed. I suppose there is no more we can do at the present. All there can be done is more waiting." He looked directly at Tails, who shrunk slightly, despite his efforts not to. "And so, Little One, what do you think of this? There appears to be nothing else we can do until the Daimyo returns to the Battle Nexus."

"I-if there's nothing more that can be done, I-I guess we just have to... uhm... wait it out?" He felt his ears fold back slightly and he wrung his hands for a moment, trying to avert the gaze. Why did he have to be so nervous around this guy?

The rat nodded, apparently overlooking Tails' extreme nervousness. "This is the case. I apologize that nothing could be done sooner. Please be assured that you are welcome in our home, and we wish for you to feel comfortable here."

"T-thank you... I appreciate it with all my heart."

* * *

After managing to observe the other two turtles he wasn't as familiar with, Tails decided that his favorite was still Donatello, followed by Michelangelo, and then Leonardo and Raphael. As much as Raph did remind him of Knuckles, he didn't seem too terribly appealing when not in contrast to someone like Sonic. Well, unless Mikey was his "Sonic". That didn't work either, though, because Raph's agitation towards his playful brother was too single-sided. Sonic and Knuckles went the rounds with each other as friends (...but maybe 'rivals' was a better word for it). Mikey got whacked by Raph. That's all there was to it. Leo was serious, and thus acted older than the rest of them. Tails enjoyed Mikey's good sense of humor and his enthusiasm, but more than anything, he admired Donatello. His brains, his passiveness; he never hit anybody, and he never got mad. He didn't insult his brothers, and he didn't want to kill them. He didn't spend most of his time training or meditating. He didn't play mass amounts of video games. He was polite. He was intelligent. He was just about everything he ever wished he could have in a friend.

Tails spent a lot of time with Don in his lab. It had a lot of space, and a lot of neat things to fiddle around with. Things that were repaired, things that still needed repair, things that were being upgraded or improved... It was nice to be around someone who enjoyed the same kind of work, and understood the terminology to go with it.

It was like home; everything in its own strange way held some value of familiarity. Mike and Raph fighting reminded him of Sonic and Knuckles. Leonardo's collected demeanor reminded him of quiet and mysterious Shadow. Donatello reminded him of himself. Master Splinter remained an entity all his own, however. No matter how many times Tails had seen him out and about, or how many times the rat had given him a nod in greeting, he never knew what to do with himself. There was something about him that the little fox found incomprehensible.

It was on the fourth day of waiting that he started to get homesick. And he started to think.

As much as he honestly appreciated the turtles' company, something began to bite at the back of his mind, especially now that his stay was prolonged. What on earth were his friends at home doing now? Whatever had gotten his arm was bound to have gotten Sonic and Knuckles, wasn't it? Were they alright? Did they wonder where he was? Was anything wrong? There wouldn't be much more of a wait before the familiarity of home returned to him, in any case, so perhaps if he could keep himself from worrying until then, things would work out alright. Late in the afternoon, Donatello eventually ceased work on Raph's motorcycle. His brother had requested that some of that good old utrom technology was used to 'juice it up a little', and as he wasn't the type to argue, Don had agreed. However, the upgrade was being a little faulty, and after toying with it for much too long, Don had simply given up for the time being. With a frustrated sigh, he dropped his tools down on the work bench. Tails sunk himself down on a nearby wooden chair and after dusting his gloved hands off on his lap, began fiddling with the bandaging on his upper arm, which by now, was in far better shape and starting to heal properly.

Don watched him with a mix of curiousness and concern; concern for the matter of Raph's bike upgrade and its lack of co-operation, as well as the thought of returning to the silent Battle Nexus after all they'd been through there, and curiousness towards the void of mystery surrounding his friend's appearance in New York. "What are you doing?" he queried.

Tails jumped slightly. "Oh... me? N- nothing." He gave up on his toying and relaxed his shoulders with a sigh.

The purple bandana wearing turtle loosely folded his arms over his chest thoughtfully. "You know, you were a chatterbox all afternoon until I started talking about the Shredder. Then it was like your mind drifted off to another planet."

"It probably did," the fox answered dimly. "I still don't know why I'm here or how I got here in the first place, and I'm leaving soon..." He didn't add anything else. Don frowned slightly and went to kneel beside the chair. The first-aid kit was always within easy access, and within a few minutes, he had the cut cleanly redressed. With relative ease, he undid his own handiwork and let the old bandages come loose. The gash was improved since he had first treated it. It had actually scabbed over by this point, and could probably start healing properly. This bandaging would do until Tails could get home and possibly do something about it himself. Lack of knowledge as to where it had come from in the first place wasn't any help. The turtle rose to his feet, looking around his slightly untidy workplace. Tails had become awkwardly quiet.

"I... uhm... Donnie?" he spoke up softly after a moment.

Donatello raised his non-existent brows and looked at him. "Yeah?"

A thoughtful sad expression had crossed Tails' face. He fiddled thoughtfully with the buckle around his wrist. "About going home..." His concerned blue eyes met with Don's dark ones. "I'm nervous. How do I explain away all of what's gone on?"

What concerned Don was the fact that his friend had started acting so strangely all within such a short period of time. It had been less than half an hour ago that he'd been talking animatedly, almost like Michelangelo, and now he seemed consumed by worries Don feared he was unable to straighten. "I'm not sure," he said earnestly. "Weird things happen here all the time. Even if strange happenings aren't really the case where you come from, I'm sure explaining everything the best way you know how would be good enough for your friends if they ask about it."

Tails hopped down off the chair. Grabbing one of Don's peculiar hands, he gently tugged at him, and Don sunk back down onto one knee so they were nearly face-level with each other. "Donnie?" Tails asked softly, his face still filled with its mix of uncertainty and worry. "...Can I please stay a little longer?" As much as he wanted to return home to his own workshop and his own world filled with greenery and strange landscapes unlike the towering buildings of cement and glass of New York, he still wanted time to straighten himself out here. He decided his lack of answers overcame his homesickness by a mile. "Talking about the Shredder made me think of... well, whatever's going on at home."

With this, Donatello now somehow properly understood. Despite his miraculous genius with technology, despite his peculiar abilities, and despite his optimistic and carefree heart, Tails was still everything he appeared to be on the outside. He was just a little kid. A little kid in a mixture of amazement and fear of this city of pavement and vehicles and bright lights. Don smiled at him affectionately and pulled him into a hug, feeling the small form in his arms tremble just slightly.

"...Of course you can."


End file.
